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The purpose of this article is to elucidate that the Zamosc Provincial Council of 1720 was not an end-result of Rome's manipulations or Jesuit machinations to strip the Uniate Church of its oriental character, in terms of doctrine, liturgy, law, and customs, and to replace it with Latin equivalents. Furthermore, this paper aims to illustrate that the adoption of various Latin liturgical and administrative practices was not imposed upon, but voluntarily adopted, by the Uniate Church, without sacrificing her rich and valuable Oriental heritage, in order to remove abuses, improve pastoral care, and unify the liturgy in the Catholic spirit. Keywords: Zamosc Provincial Council, Girolamo Grimaldi, Leon Kiska, Uniate Church, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Kiev metropolia, Introduction The increasing frequency and importance of provincial councils as well as diocesan synods that took place in the post-Tridentine period represented an important stage in the reception of the [...]

On the eve of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, the Russian Orthodox Church had at least nine missions operating among Siberia's indigenous peoples. The Red victory in the ensuing civil war [...]

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1990 resulted in much more than a political crisis. It also caused the collapse of Russia's social foundations, creating a vacuum that might [...]

The small effect of the modern age on Russian Orthodox religion is examined. While the enlightenment weaken Christianity in other parts of Europe, it continued as an important part of Russian life until the Communist Revolution. It took banning by the government to curb the power of the church in Russia.

The diaries of of a Russian Orthodox missionary, Father Michael Andreades, who was pastor of St. Spiridon's Church in Seattle, WA, from 1905-1915 are examined. Topics include the religious goals of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Pacific Northwest, the community of immigrants to which Father Andreades ministered, and accounts of his missionary travels in the area.

Utilizing archival as well as ethnographic field data, this essay traces the history of the Tlingit women's conversion to Russian Orthodox Christianity. Their initial limited exposure to Orthodoxy, which occurred during the Russian-American Company era and was structured by larger trading, military, and socioeconomic relationships between the Russians and the Tlingit, is contrasted with their massive conversion to Orthodoxy in the 1880s, two decades after the purchase of Alaska by the United States. While examining the various political, social, and religious aspects of that conversion, the essay also explores the native women's own interpretations of Orthodoxy, which has remained the favorite denomination of the more culturally conservative segment of the Tlingit community throughout the twentieth century.

Some misconceptions about the Russian Orthodox Church following the end of World War II have been corrected with the opening of the Soviet archives to the public. While Western historians previously believed that the church had 20-25,000 churches in the 1950s, the actual number was only 13-14,000. Although many parishes were ordered to close down during the time of Nikita Khrushchev and Leonid Brezhnev, the church experienced a period of growth during the late 1980s and early 1990s. However, a schism, financial troubles and a shortage of priests are making the mid-1990s a troublesome period for the church.

The performance of the Russian Orthodox Chirch during the Communist regime in Soviet Russia is viewed to be dismal. It failed to satisfactorily provide its priestly and prophetic roles. It preserved its rites and performed services but not many people had access to this. It was also a sycophant to the government. The dissolution of the communist state may provide an opportunity for reunification with the Uniates, a branch with ties to the Western Church, which will bring the Orthodox Church closer to its ideal.

The history of Orthodox parish clergy and their position in the late imperial Russian society is explored. Although the white clergy in the Russian Orthodox Church constituted a sizable portion of society and in some respects were part of the state mechanism, they had very low social prestige in the 19th century, however, these priests discharged the function of official historian and recorder of life's passages in the rural parishes' and due to their education and experience created conditions favorable to the shaping of the people's historical consciousness.

The Russian episcopate's almost exclusive reliance upon a pool of parish clergy sons from the mid-eighteenth century until 1917 knew no parallel in Western or Central Europe, where bishops were [...]

Martyrdom, we know, has been and is the basic Christian experience. The word 'martyr' means 'witness', and martyrs are witnesses who confess their faith before the powerful of this world, [...]

Russia has been subjected to different forms of invasion since the Western Catholic Church sought to overwhelm the teachings of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1054. Russia was at war with anti-Russian coalitions for 334 years. However, its most controversial battle with the Roman Catholic Church involved the publication of the 'Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion' in the 19th century. The document outlined the techniques which the Western Church was to use in subjugating the Russia. Former CIA Dir Allen Dulles affirmed the Protocol by revealing a plot to destroy Russia through a stage-by-stage process.